Now is the time. The Santa Monica City Council needs to substantially increase its financial support to the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District. The fact that more than two-thirds of Santa Monica voters supported Measure S and the unprecedented size of the recent rallies focused on K-12 public education funding, gives the Santa Monica City Council, as our elected officials responsible for stewarding our community, a mandate to do whatever is necessary to support and enhance the quality of K-12 public education in Santa Monica. In this case, that means increasing and reallocating the current and future SMMUSD Joint Use Agreement budget allowances.
The City Council should not need to be reminded that the two-thirds super majority who voted for the passage of Measure S are also taxpayers in the City of Santa Monica. It is the City Council’s responsibility to support and act on the taxpayers’ and voters’ will.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 11, 2003. Read the original PDF.